~ snails in art

(286) BLO Ms. Douce 381

Ms. Douce 381 in the Bodleian Library, Oxford is a scrapbook of fragments from liturgical manuscripts [1]. Three malacological relevant folios are present.

Folio 080r is from a fragment of a Flemish Book of Hours, dated the third quarter of the 15th century. This is a whole text page with initial cut out. Border with snail, man with club, flowers. Although the snail has partly been cut, its context clearly shows it as a variation of the ‘knight v. snail’ theme: the man at right holds a club in both hands and the snail is looking up (in fear?) to him.
The shell is dextral, the animal has all four tentacles shown (though stylised), but its tail is missing.

Folio 088r is from the same Book of Hours, again a whole text page with initial cut out. Border with horseman, snail, bird and grapevine.
The snail is similar to the previous one.

Folio 158r features the Office of the Dead from a 15th century French manuscript. Miniature. Death in cemetery. Half-decayed corpse with spade stands by an empty tomb, bone, skull and coffin beside it. In background, mourners carry bier covered with pall. Cemetery surrounded by charnel houses, entrance to chapel, calvary. Decorated border on all sides with acanthus, flowers (including aquilegia, cornflowers, sweet peas), birds (including peacock), owl, butterfly, snail. Decorated initial ‘D(ilexi)’. The snail has a dextral shell, the animal is fully stretched out; it has an eye-spot and two tentacles.